Lion Cub
by wibblywobblywesteros
Summary: Just a short and sweet father and daughter story.


Jaime Lannister was nearly asleep at his bed in Casterly Rock when the knock sounded at his door. He was weary and would have preferred to pretend he was asleep. It had been a long journey from the Capitol and he had only just arrived a few hours earlier. Whoever was knocking would have to wait until morning, sleep was more important to him than any ravens or financial matter right now.

"I asked not to be disturbed." He reminded the servant who had poked his head in the door.

"Forgive me my lord, a rider has just arrived. It is a young girl alone, she claims to be Myrcella Baratheon and is demanding to see you."

Myrcella? She was supposed to be in Dorne. Safe. Jaime rose and pulled on his boots and tunic. Whoever it was, Jaime wanted to know why she had come. "Where is she?"

"She has been brought to your solar, my lord."

"Fine, I'll see her there." He said, following the servant out of his chambers and into the adjoining room.

A young woman stood at the end of the table in his solar. She wore a dark cloak and kept her face partially covered by the hood. There were long tendrils of blond hair hanging about her shoulders. "Myrcella?"

She took the hood down, revealing her scars. Her face was marred, an ear missing, and her eyes were brimmed with tears but it was definitely Myrcella. And they just stood there, staring at each other, unsure what to do next.

"I need your help." She finally spoke. "I don't know how to tell you so I'll just show you." Myrcella approached him and placed a scroll of paper in his hand. He noticed that she was trembling.

_To Myrcella, formerly of house Baratheon: _

_This correspondence is to inform you that your betrothal to house Martell is ended. The crown will be better served by wedding Trystane Martell to another. You will be required to leave Dorne immediately as your presence there will be inappropriate once my new arrangements are fully made. Do not write to my Hand Tyrion Lannister about this matter. He is unaware of it and I have already given him my fill in familial favors. I allowed your father, my father's murderer, to not only live but to live as a lord at Casterly Rock. As such, you will not be permitted to marry into any noble houses. _

_Danaerys Targareyn, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm…_

"I had no place else to go." Myrcella said as he finished reading.

"Of course you can stay here...did you come alone?"

She nodded. "I came by ship and rode here from Lannisport."

"You must be tired." Jaime said, wanting time to process his anger at the queen's newest command. "Come, I'll show you to your rooms."

"Wait." She caught his arm as he turned away. "What am I to call you?"

He hesitated. She had always been Cersei's daughter. Of course he had known he was her father but it was a fact that had never been relevant to him. Cersei had insisted that he was to remain the emotionally distant uncle and he had never been anything else. Now that the whole of the realm knew of their relationship and now that Myrcella was here at Casterly Rock, he could hardly hide from it anymore. "What do you prefer?"

She lowered her eyes, a blush creeping onto her fair skin. "I don't know." She was obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

"We'll decide it later then." He said, moving towards the door again. She followed him out into hallway. "You can have your mother's old chambers if you wish." He offered.

"Thank you, but I would rather not."Mycella said.

So he put her in the rooms that were nearly across from his own. "I'll send up some maids to see to your needs and I'll see you at breakfast. Will that suit you?" He said kindly.

"Yes, thank you." She said almost timidly.

Myrcella closed the door behind her and finally let her tears fall freely. She had been dreading the arrival here for weeks. The Queen's letter hadn't exactly shattered her world. She had barely known Trystane but she did _like _him. It saddened her that there was to be no marriage. It grieved her that she was forbidden any noble marriage but with her scars and her parentage there wouldn't have likely been many offers anyway. What she found most difficult was that man across the hall who was supposed to be her father.

She had loved Robert Baratheon but even as a child she had known he was a deeply flawed man. He drank too much wine, dishonored her mother by having other women, and was quick tempered. But the few times he had truly taken notice of her he had been kind and she had loved him as he was.

She had known of her true parentage for several years. At first it had angered and disgusted her. Eventually she had accepted it in her own way. She knew that Jaime Lannister had probably been far kinder to her mother than Robert Baratheon ever had. Then Tommen died in battle and her mother was executed, leaving her all alone in Dorne. She had friends there, but she was still alone, and some part of her had wanted to seek out the only family she had left. The Martells said they understood her sadness but thought it best she not leave. So she had stayed.

Now that she was here, she found that Uncle Jaime, her true _father _was as much a mystery as he ever was. She was stuck here in Casterly Rock, with no future prospects, no friends, and little hope of that ever changing. She felt more alone than she ever had after her mother's death.

Jaime couldn't go back to sleep. Why in seven hells was Myrcella being punished for his crimes? She had done nothing wrong. Myrcella hadn't killed the mad king. She certainly had not asked to be born of incest or as a Lannister bastard. And to take away all of her marriage prospects was exceedingly cruel. He knew the political reasons behind it. The queen didn't trust the Lannisters to leave the throne unchallenged. She couldn't let Mycella marry into any powerful houses without risk to the throne. Jaime had no wife, no other heirs, and it had already been decided that Casterly Rock would pass to Tyrion's children should he have any, or to another house should he die without heirs. Surely, the queen could have handled the matter with Myrcella differently. She was a sweet girl and she deserved better.

She truly was just a girl, he realized. She was not yet sixteen years old. Some maidens married at that age, he knew, but she was still very young. She had looked so afraid standing there in his solar. Her hands had been shaking her eyes brimming with tears. Perhaps she hadn't been simply asking about proper titles, but was asking if he was going to _be_ her father or be the uninvolved uncle he had always been. He wasn't sure he could be a father or whatever is was she expected of him. But she was all the family he had left except for Tyrion who he would likely never see for years on end. It would be a mistake to push away the only family left to him, his daughter.

He tossed and turned in his bed for a while longer. He heard the maids go into Myrcella's room and after a while he heard them go out again. All was quiet for a long while then he heard another sound, weeping. Myrcella was alone in her room, crying, sobbing by the sounds of it. Though she had apparently tried to muffled the sound with a pillow. Cersei would have gone to her. And do what? Hug her? Talk to her? He got up from his bed and went to her door, not even sure what he planned to say or do.

She came to the door on his third knock. Her hair was a wreck and her eyes red from crying.

"May I come in?"

She nodded and stepped aside, going back to sit on the bed. He took the chair from her dressing table and sat in it near the bed.

"What can I do Myrcella? Your mother would have known what to say. I don't, but I do want to help."

She shook her head. "No, mother would have tried to plan some sort of treason to marry me to a Lord in spite of the queen's command. I know she loved me in her own way, but she never understood that I didn't care about power the way she did...whatever she would have said, it wouldn't have helped."

He hadn't known Myrcella was this perceptive. She had always been so quiet at court and he had never really talked to her. "What do you care about then? If it isn't power, it has to be something else."

"The same things most people care about, friendship, love, laughter… family." She said, a few stray tears slipped from her green eyes.

"Did you love Trystane Martell?"

"No. I barely knew him. I liked him… but I did have friends in Dorne and some of them...I loved them dearly...and I'll never have a family of my own…"

"That's not true. You can still have a family."

"But the queen said-"

"The queen said you weren't permitted to marry any _noblemen. _There are plenty of men in the seven kingdoms who aren't noble." He suggested.

She just stared at him in surprise. "And what of my scars? Who would even want me?"

He gave her a look. "You're old enough to know by now that men don't marry a woman just for her face."

"Right." She said, blushing a little.

"Your friends from Dorne can visit here even if you can't go to them. And if you like, I can help arrange a match with a commoner, someone who will treat you well and who cares for you." He offered.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you. I would like that. But don't arrange any matches just yet. I want to spend a little more time with my family first."

He nodded in acknowledgement. Her problem seemed solved so he got up to take his leave.

"Father?" She called out after him.

It was strange being called father but he stopped anyway and turned back. She got up from the bed and came to him. "Thank you." She said planting a kiss on his cheek. He had never hugged her before but he put his arms around her then and she hugged him in return. Somehow they both knew in that moment that things would be alright.


End file.
